UNESCO/IHE - Seawater for toilet flushing and SANI®

UNESCO/IHE - Seawater for toilet flushing and SANI®

A source for toilet flushing and for cooling, sewage treatment benefits, and phosphorus recovery: direct use of seawater in an age of rapid urbanisation is being promoted by UNESCOIHE to combat water scarcity in coastal cities. UNESCO-IHE is currently building the first application of the innovative SANI® Process outside Hong Kong for the tourism industry in Cuba.

The innovative SANI® Process technology was originally developed in Hong Kong and makes use of a common microbe called sulphatereducing bacteria, which uses the sulphate in seawater as the medium to oxidize and eliminate pollutants. Since these microbes are highly efficient and grow slowly, it minimizes sludge production by 90%, hence the name SANI® Process, meaning ‘sludge-killing’ in Chinese. The ongoing joint research is extending the application of SANI® to industrial and inland situations and other geographic regions.